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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1993)
'r 6,1993 ts h ?ire to mipta- i, "al- seless gainst ‘S, un- td im- itional isal to lity." ie at a ns be- ormer cs of >tonia. ace of Is and Russ- in Es- ill vis- his three n a se- ;i Ger many >ed to a. The epen- Soviet *s' 22- s was tanks i-inde- s out- on on d the tery a I," but >rgive rers." ted an g rain, Polish ie the 5-0737 5-2624 5-2625 5-9655 5-4511 5-7826 ou! t for both iccer and rain you! ere; t. if you I Read or Varies Free! $2.50 Free! $5 $30 $10 $30 5.,8a.m- terCard, ;ball! The Battalion *SHuy (ftOOJ )L93 No. 7 (14 pages) 1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993 ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Tuesday, September 7,1993 Chicano activists High-tech security begins in Houston school fight pesticide use By Kevin Lindstrom Thc Battalion Leader of a Chicano activist group at Texas A&M University said londay they want the University Food Services to stop serving Cali- !mia table grapes on campus. The Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), a special ■lerest group that focuses on issues concerning the Chicano communi- said A&M needs to look at all sides of the problem. Gene Perez, president of MEChA, said, "Texas A&M University, be- an agricultural university, has a responsibility to be concerned with Jpofthe facets of agriculture, not only the business end of agriculture, talsothe workers in the fields." Perez said the organization also plans to promote awareness of Chi- nioculture and work with the city of Bryan in the development of its licano community. Toxic farming is a recent phenomenon that is necessary." -Irwin Tang, spokesperson for the United Farm Workers of America Irwin Tang, a spokesperson for the United Farm Workers of America j ad former student of Texas A&M, presented a film entitled "No japes," which included appearances by Edward James Olmos, Lou tonond Phillips and Martin Sheen. The video claimed pesticides used in grape farming caused birth de ads including cancer, deformities and numerous miscarriages among :«farm workers that helped work and harvest these farms. "Three hundred thousand people are poisoned every year from pes- ades used in the production of grapes," the video states. Tang said these pesticides are causing health problems across the ’sited States. “These problems are not just in California," he said. "They are all aoss the nation, including the Rio Grande Valley. Toxic farming is a ientphenomenon that is not necessary." Tang said organic farming is a successful alternative to using pesti- :fc “Organic farming, though only used in about 5 percent of farms to- iy, is just as productive as toxic farming," he said. "The food is just as falthy, just as pest free, but no pesticides are used." Tang said both the University of Texas and Arizona State University ne removed grapes from their food services. r Students from Italy experience Aggie life By Jacqueline Mason The Battalion Francesca Gallorini and Francesca Tanti came to College Station from Italy in late July to experience what they heard was a truly unique locale - Ag- gieland. They heard about Texas A&M from Aggies who study at Santa Chiara, a Texas A&M University Study Center near Arezzo, Italy. Mona Rizk-Finne, director of A&M's Study Abroad Pro grams, said Gallorini and Tanti wanted to come to College Sta tion to learn more about Aggies. "This was not an exchange program," she said. Gallorini and Tanti's visit was a special arrangement in which the two students applied to the English Language Insti tute and were invited to come to A&M for the fall semester to study English intensively, she said. They will also have the op portunity to learn more about the University. The program involves im proving student's English skills through lessons in reading and oral communication. Students do not, however, get to study subjects like science and liberal arts while at A&M. Jennifer Brooks, a peer coun selor at the Study Abroad Of fice, said, "These are the first Italian students who have come through [the program], and I think it is because of the A&M students who have gone over there and who have talked to them and convinced them that it is a good thing to do. "They were kind enough to let us into their country and their culture that we wanted to share what ours was like," she said. Both students said they are impressed with the facilities, such as computers and labora tories, that are available to Ag gies. Gallorini said Italian univer sities do not provide many of these facilities for students even though the tuition at Italian schools is lower. Gallorini and Tanti also ex pressed an interest in playing sports and getting part-time jobs. Counselor Mimi Ribeiro said the students should spend more time interacting with other Ag gies. "As far as giving them ad vice, it would be the same as giving a new student advice: try and get involved in the things that are around you," she said. Peer counselors at A&M's study abroad office try to in volve Gallorini and Tanti in or ganized activities with other ex change students. They plan social activities like trips to midnight yell prac tice and to the movies. The Associated Press HOUSTON — Security' has gone high-tech at Worthing High School, where five real cam eras and two fake ones are keeping an eye on the campus and even the surrounding commu nity. "We've got to be in the preventive mode," said Principal Larry Alexander, himself a graduate of the school. The $15,000 system was installed nearly a year ago soon after Alexander took charge of the 1,100-student school, which has been an easy target for outside troublemakers in the past. A retired coach is paid to monitor the sys tem and report anything suspicious to the principal or to the two police officers who pa trol the campus on the city's south side. The security system, coupled with a strict dress code and an ever-vigilant staff checking passes in the hallways, has curtailed problems at the school. Since the security system was installed, school administrators said, only two student fights have occurred. Houston Independent School District police reported only 19 incidents ranging from as saults to trespassing last year — compared to 70 the year before. "It would be a great piece of equipment in all of our schools if we could come up with the bucks," said Les Burton, director of security for HISD. The Worthing cameras watch the campus, but they also are powerful enough to keep tabs on the surrounding neighborhood. See Security/Page 14 Trying to catch the coach's eye Kyle Burnett /The Battalion Texas A&M baseball Head coach Mark Johnson (right) and assis- hopeful's throw arrives there during the Aggies open tryouts Mon- tant head coach Jim Lawler watch first base as an Aggie baseball day afternoon. Committee sets decision date for proposed class By Lisa Elliott The Battalion Caucus Leaders of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate discussed with faculty members the proposed multiculturalism courses during their meeting Monday. Chairman of the committee Doug Slack said the final proposal for the classes will be formally made at the next committee meeting Oct. 4. Slack said it would not be wise to make a decision this earlv in the Fall. "This is happening at the worst time of the year for academics what with people being out of town and the first week of classes," he said. He said caucus members will attend the Faculty Senate meeting as soon as the proposal is perfected to present it to the Senate. Caucus Leaders said most of the faculty they talked to favor multi cultural courses. However, most members expressed concern about whether there would be room for all the students in the courses and wanted to clarify the reasoning for requiring the classes. Slack said all the specifics will be ironed out by the next meeting. Ben Dale, chairman of academic affairs of the Student Senate, pre sented a rough draft of a proposal to the committee that will be made at the Student Senate meeting on Wednesday. The proposal would reduce the number of hours required to three and delete the requirement that 33 percent of the course pertain to mi norities or international issues. Dale said all of the executive officers of the Student Senate believe this is an important issue that should get recognition from the student body. "We want to work in conjunction with you," he said. "But the pro posal will stand on its own." Dale took suggestions from faculty members to improve the propos al before it becomes final at Wednesday's meeting. Administration to reshape federal bureaucracy The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Hoping to capitalize on public outrage over government waste, the White House is touching up plans administra tion officials say will save $108 billion over five years by reshaping the federal bureaucra cy- The leaner government envisioned by Vice President A1 Gore also would include 252,000 fewer workers. His upcoming report to President Clinton, called the National Performance Review, rec ommends buyouts and early retirements for employees whose services are no longer need ed, said White House officials who spoke Sun day on condition of anonymity. The administration wants to eliminate or consolidate scores of wasteful programs, allow the private sector to compete for government business, cut red tape that saddles efficient federal workers and expand the use of modem office technologies such as computers to im prove efficiency. The report, scheduled to be unveiled Tues day, is certain to draw opposition from federal employees who may lose their jobs and from lawmakers who oversee programs on Gore's hit list. But White House officials are betting that the changes will be popular with the voters. An Associated Press poll shows that 95 per cent of Americans think government wastes too much money. The average American thinks 37 percent of the $1.5 trillion federal budget could realisti- See Government/Page 14 Silver Taps ceremony scheduled for tonight At 10:30 tonight six buglers and the Ross Volunteer Firing Squad will pay tribute to six stu dents who have died over the Past five months as part of the first Silver Taps ceremony of the fall semester. The ceremony honors those Jtudents who have passed away *n the previous month, but tonight's ceremony will honor toose who have died since Aggie Muster last April. The first Silver Taps was held to 1898 to honor Lawrence Sulli- ¥ an Ross, founder and first presi dent of the University. The cere- toony is held in front of the Acad- tonic Building on the first Tues day of every month during the school year. The Albritton Tower bells will ring at 10:15 p.m. as the lights around campus are turned off out of respect for those students honored at the ceremony. The Ross Volunteers march in at 10:30 p.m. and fire a 21-gun salute. "Silver Taps" is played by six bu glers to the north, south and west. The following people will be honored at tonight's Silver Taps ceremony: -Willie Cannon, a junior eco nomics major from Beaumont. Carmon died on May 14 as the result of an auto accident. He was 21 years old. - Ramesh Kumar Chennappan, a senior accounting major from Round Rock. Chennappan died May 25 from asphyxiation. - Timoteo Rodriquez Jr., a sophomore biology major. Ro driquez died on May 14 in a car accident. - Rick Edward Torres, a junior computer engineering major. Torres died on May 14 in a car ac cident. He was 22 years old. - Tabitha Michelle Williams, a graduate student in business ad ministration from Spring, Texas. Williams died on June 12 as the result of an auto accident. - Zhenliang Xu, a graduate in soil and crop sciences from Chi na. Xu died on June 5. Inside Sports ►A&M volleyball faces Lamar after taking 2nd place in Fresno tournament Page 7 •Clay: Baseball more enjoyable than radio Page 7 Opinion ►Magee: More to Aggie life than football Page 13 Weather ►Tuesday: mostly cloudy, scattered showers ► Wednesday: partly cloudy, no rain expected •Extended forecast: partly cloudy, chance of thunderstorms